Machine for working uppers over lasts



8 Sheets-snee?l l April 4, 1939.

L Il l #IQ PIWIIIU April 4, 1939- F. RICKS ET AL 2,152,855

MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVER LASTS Filed Sept. 8, 1957 8 sheets-sheet 2 3J; 55, 45a f/ 64,0

April- 4, 1939.

8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 8, 1957 WVM/T5515 FMA M W Z l d?? April 4, 1939. F, mi@ ET AL 2,152,855

MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVER LASTS Filed Sept. 8, 1937 8 Shets-Sheet 4 Fig/4 /A/ VEA/70H5 M M1 April 4, 1939- F. RlcKs ET Al.

MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVER LASTS Filed Sept. 8, 1937 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 4, 1939. F- RlcKs ET AL MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVE LASTS Filed Sept. 8, 1937 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 4, 1939. E RICK'S ET AL 4 152,85

MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVER LASTS Filed sept. 8, 1937 8 sheets-sheet '7 April 4, 1939. F. Ricks ET A.4

MACHINE FOR WORKING UFPERS OVER LASTS Filed Sept. 8, 1937 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Osasggg@ 1%7'6 Gripper' Pull 352 Y Wiper-Head updfdown 466 vwipers clutch v Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE n MACHINE FOR WORKING UPPERS OVER LASTS Application September 8, 1937, Serial No. 162,890`

In Great Britain October 3, 1936 so claims;

This invention relates to machines for working uppers over lasts and particularly to machines for pulling over and lasting stitchdown shoes.

Objects of the invention are to improve and perfect machines for this work without sacrificing any of the features and advantages of prior machines such as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,096,761, granted October 26, 1937 upon application of Ricks and James.

The illustrated machine, which comprises a preferred embodiment of the invention, is provided with a support to receive the bottom of a shoe presented right side up and with toe and side grppers which are causedV to be power operated to tension the upper downwardly and outwardly by manual means, for example `a treadle, which is locked in depressed position, the machine coming to rest with the upper under tension. Hand levers are provided by which the tension of the toe gripper andthe tension of the side grippers may be increased and the side gripper lever is movable inanother direction to lessen the tension on one side of the shoe and increase it on the other. End-embracing wipers are mounted for bodily movement lengthwise of the shoe from a retracted position where they are out of operators way to a position above the grippers and above the shoe toe and, in so moving, are opened to a predetermined but variable extent. Manual means, for example a second treadle, is provided ton move the wipers into operative position above the shoeand then to cause power movement of the wipers heightwise of the shoe to shape the upper to the last and, after the heightwise movement is completed, to ad- Vance and close to tuck the upper under the last bottom, this being permitted because up to that time only the central portion of the forepart of the sole is supported. A peripheral support surrounding the central support is now'raised by power through yielding means firmly to press the marginal portion of the sole and the outturned upper up against the wipers. At the same time an auxiliary wiper, located between the end-embracing wipers is withdrawn, whereupon the machine comes to rest, at which time the operator may, if desired, secure the upper to the projecting margin of the sole by driving the fastenings through the notch provided by withdrawal of the auxiliary wiper and through notches in the end-embracing wipers located at opposite ends of the tip line.

In the illustrated machine, means is provided for causing the toe gripper to close before the 'tension is applied, and, further, the toe gripper is released as the wipers advance to tuck the upper at the toe. Means operated by the wipers as they descend is provided to relieve the hold of the grippers on the upper so that they may give it up to the wipers to be thereby tucked under the shoe bottom.

To locate the shoe on the support, a V-shaped toe gage is brought into operative position before the grippers are operated and is withdrawn out of the way before the Wipers reach their operative position. A rear .abutment for the shoe is arranged to be drawn rearwardly by the operator against a Weight and latched in a position away from the shoe. While the shoe is located by the toe gage, the rear abutment is released to engage the rear end of the shoe and is held during the wiping operation against movement away from the shoe and, during the advance of the wipers to tuck the upper under the last bottom, is moved by the heightwise movement of the wipers hard against the wipers at the toe.

In case the operation of the grippers upon the upper is unsatisfactory, the parts may be caused to resume their initial position by releasing the depressed gripper treadle, provision being made to prevent the second stop of the machine and cause it to perform its cycle in two steps instead of three. Means is provided for preventing upward movement of the gripper jaws until the wipers are lifted out of the way and various necessary and convenient adjustments are provided, for example the positions of the side grippers longitudinally of the' shoe may be independently varied and also their positions laterally of the shoe. Means is provided for adjusting an abutment, which causes the wipers to open as they advance over the shoe, to vary the position of the wipers-,in accordance with the size of the shoe. The extent of both the closing movement and the advancing movement of the wipers by which the upper is tucked under the last bottom may be Varied to suit different classes of work.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description when read in connection with the' accompanying drawings and will be Ypointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine, a second Vsimilar machine being indicated in dash lines; 'A A 40; its upper farce a, member 9 on which is a shoe-.

Vthe sole-engaging face II.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the right-hand side of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operating instrumentalities of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a front View, partly in section, of the grippers .and their operating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken from front to rear of the machine;

Fig. 5a is a detail view of parts shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken on the line VII- VII of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail of partsshown in Fig. 5;

Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional details of the pawl mechanism for locking the hand levers;

Fig. 11 is a sectional plan view of the gripperoperating mechanism;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the clutch mechanism;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view of parts shown in Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a detail in elevation of parts shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 15 is a detail of the toe gripper and toe gage shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 16 is a cam chart of the machine.

The machine has a base I (Fig. 2) supported on two side members 3. On the base I are twoy substantially separate machines, which are identical except that the Wipers of one machine are adapted for operating on left shoes and the other on right shoes, and the following description therefore applies to either machine. Each machine (Fig. 2) has a head 5 to which is secured an armI 'I which extends forwardly of the machine and is inclined upwardly from front to rear at an angle of approximately 20 to the horizontal. Near its forward end the arm 1 has secured o-n supporting device (Fig. 1) comprising a central part and a peripheral part I2. On the central portion the forepart of the s ole of a stitchdown shoe is positioned right side up. The sole support II, IZ-extends rearwardly and upwardly at some 30 to the horizontal so that the forepart of a shoe supported thereon will be in a convenient position for the operator to watch the progress of the machines operation on the toe portion of the shoe.

Each machine is provided with three upper grippers, one gripper (Fig. 5) being for pulling on the upper at the toe end and the other two grippers (Fig. 6) for pulling the upper at the opposite sides of the toe portion near the tip line. The toe gripper (Figs. 5 and 15) comprises a pair of jaws I'I, I9 which are both mounted, on a pivot 2|, on a carrier plate 23 which in turn is pivoted on a pivot 25 on the. member 9, the pivot 25 occupying a position below the sole-engaging face II of the shoe-supporting device and some distance heelward of the toe end of the surrounding portion I2. The pvot 2| when the toe gripper is open lies substantially in the same plane as The lower jaw I'I of the toe gripper is formed by a sho-rt arm freely pivoted at 2|. The jaws I'I, I9 of the toe gripper are relatively wide'in order that they mayr grip a substantial portion of the upper extending across "the toe end of the last and may be wider. than the side gripper jaws. The inner edges of the jaws of the toe gripper may, as seen in Fig. 3, be curved to `simulate the contour across the toe end portion of the last so that the opposite side portions of the gripper jaws may engage the margin of the upper substantially as close to the last as do'the central portions of the jaws.

The lower jaw II of the toe gripper (Fig. 5) rests near its forward end upon a plunger 29: housed in the carrier plate 23, the plunger being normally raised by a spring 3| beneath it which maintains the lower jaw I l with its upper-engaging face a little above the so-le-engaging face II ofthe shoe-supporting device, the forward ends of the toe gripper jaws then lying over the toeward end of the shoe-supporting device I2.

The upper jaw I9 of the toe end gripper is formed on the forward portion of one arm of a bell-crank lever which is freely pivoted at 2| and the other arm 35 of the bell crank lever extends downwardly from it. The forward face of the arm 35 of the bell crank lever is formed as a' curved cam face 31 (Fig. 15). In order to swing the upper jaw I9 downwardly to clamp the margin of the upper against the lower jaw I'I, a cam roll I8 engaging the curved cam face 37 onthe arm 35 of the bell crank lever 34 is guided by at surface 22 on the carrier plate 23 for movement in a path substantially tangential to the pivot 2| of the bell crank lever and, by thus swinging the arm 35 of the bell crank lever rearwardly, moves the jaw', I9 toward the jaw I'I. The cam roll I8 is carried by the upper end of a ball-'ended link', 20 which, at its lower end, is connected to a gripper-operating slide which in turn is connected `to power-operated mechanism hereinafter described.

In order that the upper jaw I9 may normally lie a substantial distance above the lower jaw I1 to facilitate the insertion of the upper margin between the jaws, the arm 35 of the bell crank lever has provided in the curved cam face 3l at its upper end a semicircular notch 24 opposite which the cam roll I8 is located when the parts are in their initial positions. When the cam roll I8 is opposite the notch the arm 35 of the bell crank lever is swung forwardly by a light spring 26; to raise the upper jaw I9 away from the lower jaw I'I. Preferably the cam roll I8 moves up far enough `to positively raise the upper jaw I9 by engagement with the upper edge of the notch 24.

The member 9 has beneath the rear end of the carrier plate 23 an upwardly extending bore in which is slidingly mounted a hollow plunger 3,9 (Fig. 5) carrying at its upper end a roll 3| on which the carrier plate 23 rests. A spring 43, supported at its lower end in a manner to be described, enters the hollow plunger 39 and urges it upwardly. To limit the upward movement of the plunger 39 by the spring 43, the plunger has at its lower end a fork 45 which embraces a rod 41 threaded into the member 9. The rod 41 has al collar or enlargement 49 above the fork 45 which serves to limit the upward movement of the plunger 39. By rotating the rod 4'I the heightwise position of the gripper-carrying plate 23, and hence of the gripper jaws, relatively to the sole-supporting fae of the shoe-supporting device may be determined and varied.

Downward movement of the cam roll I8, when the upper margin has been placed between the jaws, willV rst cause the roll I 8 to ride out of the semicircular notch 24, thus moving the upper jaw I9 downward somewhat toward the lower jaw I'I,vand will then cause the upper jaw I9 to press the upper margin against the lower jaw I1. Since the lower jaw I'I is supported in a raised position bythe spring plunger 29, the downward movement .oftheupper jaw I9 will first clampthe upper yieldingly against the lower vjaw I1 but continued descent of the upper jaw will force the lower jaw down against the plunger 29 until the lower jaw rests upon the carrier plate 23, causing the jaws to clamp the margin of the upper positively and, when this has' occurred, the continued descent of the cam roll vI8 acts, through its wedging action between the curved cam face 31 on the bell crank lever arm 35 and the straight guiding face 22, to pull the carrier plate 23 downwardly about its pivot 25, the spring 43 acting on thev plunger 39 being lowered by means hereinafter described so as not to offer increasing resistance `to the pivotal movement of the carrier plate 23 about the center 25.

As the plate 23 swings downwardly about its pivot 25, the gripper jaws will move in an arcuate path, directed both rearwardly and downwardly, and will therefore, since they are then gripping the upper firmly between them, impart to the upper at the toe end thereof a tension directed both lengthwise ofthe shoe away from the toe end and heightwise toward the shoe bottom.

Each of the two side grippers (Fig. 6) comprises a carrier plate 23, jaws I1, I9 pivoted thereon, means for closing the jaws, and means for swinging the carrier plate 23 downwardly about its pivot which are similar to the corresponding parts above described of the toe gripper. The carrier plates for the side grippers are, however, pivotally supported in the following manner.

The member 9 (Figs. 3 and 4) which carries the shoe-supporting device II, I2 has a pair of lugs projecting from each of its opposite sides, each` pair providing bearings for a rod 55 which lies parallel to the sole-supporting face II. The

two rods 55 converge toward their rearward ends, as seen in Fig. 3, each rod lying at an angle of some fifteen degrees to a median` line extending from front to rear of the machine. Each rod has secured on its between its supporting lugs a short upwardly extending arm 51 lying perpendicular to the axis of the rod 55 and a pivot 59 for the gripper-carrying plate 23 is secured in the upper end of the arm 51 (Fig. 6), the pin 59 lying parallel to the rod 55 at the same heightwise relation to the sole-supporting face I I as the pivot 25 for the toe gripper. It is desirable that the side grippers shall move in a path which has a less component of outward movement than that of the toe gripper, and to this end the pivot pins 59 in the arms 51 support the side grippers by engagement with slots 6I in the side gripper-carrying plates 23, the pins 59, when the grippers are in their normally raised positions, lying at the innermost ends of the slots 6I. Each arm 51 has at its upper end an outwardly projecting ear (Fig. 6) which has formed thereon a cam surface 65 which contacts with a rounded face 61 on the carrier plate 23. As the side grippers are first caused to close to grip an upper and then to descend in the same manner as the toe gripper, the rounded face 61 slides along the cam surface 65 and the pins 59 move along the slots I and so allow the gripper-carrying plates to move inwardly on their pivot pins 59, thus -decreasing the component of outward movement imparted to the gripper jaws. The outer portion of each carrier plate for the side grippers is supported by a spring-pressed plunger 39 like that supporting the toe gripper and by reason of this arrangement the inner edge of the lower jaw of each side gripper is caused to occupy the same relation to the adjacent portion of the edge of the shoe-supporting device as does the forward edge of the lower jaw ofthe toe gripper, i. e., the edges of the lower jaws of all three grippers lie directly over the edge of the solesupporting face I2 and are spaced upwardly away from it. l

The side grippers are operated by power in the same manner as the toe gripper and, owing to the particular angular arrangement of the pivots 55, 59 for the carrier plates `23 of the side grippers, the side grippers move both outwardly away from the side of the shoe and lengthwise of the latter toward its toe end, the three grippers', of course, descending as they move in the directions indicated and the toe gripper moving also away from the shoe and lengthwise thereof.

The grippers of the illustrated machine diverge as they pull on the upper thus tensioning the toe portion of the upper tightly against the upper face of the last by pulling downwardly on it and hold the portions of the upper margin extending between adjacent grippers in such an outspread and stretched condition that no substantial wrinkles will remain therein. lengthwise tension imparted to the toe portion of the upper by the'three grippers will draw the opposite sides of the shank portion of the upper closely against the sides of the last and thus assist in the obtaining of a well lasted shoe.

When the grippers have concluded their upper pulling action, the inner portions of the lower jaws of the three grippers will lie substantially in the same plane as the sole-supporting face I2 of the shoe-supporting device, the inner edges of the jaws lying close against the edge thereof. Therefore the toe portion of the upper will be held in tensioned condition with the portions gripped by the grippers lying slightly below the level of the upper face of the sole supported on the sole-supporting face I I, the upper margin therefore being presented in very convenient postion to be later pressed down, as a iiange, against the outwardly extending margin of the sole by the wipers of the machine.

In the illustrated machine means is provided for adjusting the two side grippers independently forwardly and rearwardly in the machine relatively to the toe gripper so that each gripper may be positioned for engaging the uppers of' shoes of different sizes or styles at the most appropriate place along the side of the shoe. For this purpose each of the rods 55 (Fig. 6) on which the carrier plates 23 for the side grippers are supported is slidable axially along the lugs in the member 9 and has fast on it a block 69 which has formed in its `under side a short bore housing a downwardly extending spring-pressed plunger 1I. This plunger bears, outwardly of the rod 55, on the upper face of a horizontal flange 13 extending from the member 9, and the block 69 has threaded through it a stern 15 which extends Moreover, the f plunger 1I to rotate the rod 55 and engage a rack I 11 attached to the member 9 which rack extends parallel to the rod 55. Each of the stems 15 has a knurled head 19 and, by grasping this head and rocking the block 69 in a direction to compress the spring of the plunger 1I, the pointed end of the stem 15 maybe withdrawn from the rack 11 and the corresponding gripper-supportingfrod 55 may be slid along its supporting lugs until the side gripper is positioned as desired. Release of the head 19 by the operator allows the pointed end ofthe stem 15 again to engage the rack 11 to retain the gripper in its adjusted position.

Rotation oi the threaded stem 15 will move each side gripper angularly about its axis 55;.and

gripper to commence its upper-pulling. action'before the side grippers begin to pull the upper. To this end, the illustrated machine is provided with means whereby, on depression of a treadle 80 to causepower actuation of thegrippers, the upper jaw of the toe gripper is caused to close lightly on* the upper before the side grippers are allowed to.

do so and, when the'power-operated mechanism begins to act, the toe gripper imparts some tension to the upper after the jaws of. the sideVv grippers have closed butbefore the side grippers "begin to pull the upper.

gripper-operating slide 8| (Fig. 5) fory the toe gripper has secured on it a bracket 83 on whichl is pivoted at 85 a downwardly extending arm 81 iwhich, at its lower end, has formed on it a cam surface 89 arranged to Contact with a roll |011 mounted at the far side of the upper end of` an arm 9| fixed to a shaft 93 in the machine frame 5.

The shaft 93 is arranged to be rocked in aclock- `Vwise direction as seen in Fig. when the treadle Q 8D (Figs. 1 and 2) is depressed.

When the machine is atrest the gripper-operating slide 8| is supported in a raised position against the action of a spring 99, the arrangement of which is hereinafter described, by a depending latch 95r (Fig. 5e) pivoted on the pin 85, the latch being urged by a spring 91. inV a clockwise direction as seen in that figure. Pivotally mounted on the arm 81 is a forwardly ex,-

.ntending arm 99 having a downwardly turned endv portion |9I. rThe arm 99 has a latch facewhich, when the gripper-operating slide is in its raised position, lies in front of a projection |95 on the the arm 9| (Fig. 5) is swung in a clockwise direction, the roll |09 moves along the cam surface 89y on the downwardly extending arm 81 andswings.

the arm in a counterclockwise direction about the pin B5. This movement of the arm 81` causes the latch 85 to swing off from a plate |01, causing the gripper-operating bar 8| to be moved downwardly by its spring 9|] an amount sufficient to cause the toe gripperr jaws to close and lightly grip the margin of the upper. As Ythe gripper-operating slide 8|` descends, the downwardly turned end |8| of the arm 99contacts with the plate'. |91, causing its latching face to.

be` moved upwardly and out of contactV withV the projection on the latch 95 to enable the lower end of the latch 95 to be pulled by the spring 91 over theeupper face of the plate |01 when the gripper-operating bar 8| is again raised.

After the gripper-operating slide 8| has `descended, a cam-operated slide i is pulled downwardly by power-operated mechanism and acts, through the spring 99 which surrounds the lower end of the gripper-operating slide 8|, to cause the toe gripper to commence its upper-tensioning action. This movement also causes the Vupper jaws of the side grippers to descend towardA the lower jaw and then causes them to begin their.

tensioning action.

In order that the side grippers may be closed 16: their lower ends. i0, the, 9990er @rds .Of stengels'- For this purpose a,

aises-55;..

distributing,leverA |5,.which is pivoted at ||6 mid- Way betweenitslendson a sleeve ||1 (Fig. 5) which extendsp'arallelto the gripper-operating slides I3 and is positioned midway between them as seen. from .the front ofthe machine. The opposite, ends lof the.tension-distributing` levers ||5 have small rectangular blocks ||9 (Fig. 4) pivoted thereonwhichenter into horizontal slots |2l,|`formed.in the gripper-operating slides |I3 transverselyof themachine and provide the desired connection between the slides ||3 and the leverllii.` The sleeve |l1` (Fig. 5) which carries the tension-,distributing lever ||5 is held against axial'movementon an operating rod |23 by an enlargement |25 on the rod |23 above the sleeve and by a collar |21secured on the rod |23 below thesleeve H1.

When themachine is at rest the collar |21 rests uponlthe upperY face of a forwardly projecting bifurcatedvvear, |3 |.o f the cam-operated slide thenk in its raisedposition. and the side gripper jaws are therefore maintained in an open condition. When, after the depression of the treadle 88, the gripper-operating slide 8| for the toe end gripper, hasbeen allowed toy descend in the manner previously described and the cam-operated slide commences to move downwardly, the gripper-operating slides ||3 for the two side grippers begin to move. When the cam-operated slide descends to `close the gripper jaws of the side grippers, the slide will, through a rearwardly projecting bifurcated ear |29 on which the plate |01 is secured, act through the spring 98 on the lower end of thev operating slide 8| and cause. the toe gripper to be operated. The operating rod |23.` for thetwo side grippers has on its lower enda spring 92 similar to but stiffer thanrthe spring 9E) of the toe gripper. When, during the early portion of the downward movementI of the earn-operated slide the gripperoperating rod |23 begins to descend, the spring 9,21 on itl also descends and by the time the upper jaws of the side grippers have reached the margin of the upper the toe gripper will have performed an appreciable upper-tensioning action, due to the fact that the toe gripper jaws had already been closed lightly to grip the margin of the upper when the slide began to descend.

The earn-operated slide is arranged to movev along a` guideway |33 (Figs. 5 and 1l) formedin the frame 5 substantially beneath the mid-pointof the shoe-supporting device and perpendicular to its shoe-receiving face, the guideway extending parallel to the operating slide 8| for ythetoe gripper and to the operating rod |23 for thetwo side grippers, the operating slide 8| lyingtol the rear of the cam-operated slide and the rod |23 lying in front of it. The camoperated slide I |v (Figs, 4 and 5) has at its upper endthree outwardly projecting lugs |35 each of which is directly beneath one of the carrier plates 23, for the toe and side grippers. In recesses in the upper faces of the lugs |35 rest the three springs 43 which act on the plungers 39 before described. This construction prevents increase in the upward pressure of the spring plungers 39 against the gripper carrier plates 23 as the latter arel drawn downwardly by the descent of the cam-operated slide and thus reduces the effortv necessary to actuate the grippers. Near its, lower end the cam-operated slide has a slot |31 (Fig. 5)v in which is housed a block |39 which is pivoted` tothe forward end of a camoperatedllever Uli which extends rearwardly and aftit leasen@ is pirated ,on a xed, shaft |43,

col

Between its ends this lever has an upwardly extending ear which carries a cam roll |41 engaging a cam track |43 formed on a disk secured on a cam shaft |5I. Compression springs |53 normally act to urge the slide upwardly and serve to maintain the cam roll |41 in engagement with its cam track.

The track |48 for the roll |41 is so shaped (Fig. I6) that, when rotation of the cam shaft |5| commences, downward movement is imparted vto the cam-operated slide during an early portion only of the rotation of the cam shaft I5l, e. g., while the cam shaft is rotating through about seventy degrees from its initial position. As previously indicated, downward movement of the cam-operated slide III serves to impart downward movement to the operating slide 8| of the toe gripper and to the operating rod |23 for the two side grippers by abutting against the springs 99, 92 located respectively on the lower end portions of the operating slide 8| and rod |23,

`the lower end portion of the operating slide 8| being also formed as a rod.

The two springs 90, 92 are similar except that the spring 92 for the two side grippers is much stronger than the spring for the toe gripper. The spring 92 may, for example, be substantially three times as strong as the spring 90 so that the side grippers exercise a stronger pull on the upper than the toe gripper, and each spring is arranged as shown in Fig. 8.

On the lower end of the rod 8| is pinned a collar |55 on which rests a collar |51 threaded on the lower end of a relatively long sleeve |59 extending upwardly along the rod. At its upper end thesleeve I 59 has an enlarged head |6I against the under face of which a flange |53 formed on the upper end of a sleeve |65 surrounding the sleeve I59`is urged upwardly by the spring 99 bearing at is lower end on the collar |51 and at its upper end against a collar |69 l threaded on the flange |63. By this construction the springs may be maintaianed under initial compression if desired. Y

The forwardly and rearwardly projecting bifurcated ears |29, |3| (Fig. 5) at the lower end of the cam-operated slide embrace the heads ISI at the upper ends of the sleeves |59 on the operating slide 8| forthe toe gripper and the operating rod |23 for the side grippers respec-` tively and rest on the collars |89.

When the cam-operated slide ||I is moved downwardly by its cam, the bifurcated ears |29, |3| thereon abut against the collars |69 on the sleeves |55 and thereupon begin to pull the operating slide 8| and the rod |23 for the toe and side grippers yieldingly downward through the springs 9|), 92.

The spring 9|) of the slide 8| for the toe gripper is arranged whenthe machine is at rest to be compressed slightly when the operating slide 8| is held raised as before described by the latch 95. When, on depression of the treadle and before the cam-operated slide I commences to |II. When, therefore, the cam-operated slide later descends, it will allow the operating rod 23 for the side grippers to descend until the upper jaws I9 of the side grippers have closed. At the same time the slide 8| for the toe gripper will be pulled yieldingly downwardly by reason of the under face of the bifurcated ear |29 abutting against the collar |69 of the spring 90. As the cam-operated slide continues to descend under the action of its cam, it will act to pull the slide for the toe gripper downward and exert a tensioning action on the upper while the operating rod |23 for the side grippers moves downward to close the side gripper jaws. This insures that the toe end of the upper will be subjected to a lengthwise pull before the side grippers impart an outward pull to the adjacent side portions of the upper. The cam-operated slide is drawn downwardly far enough during the first 70 of rotation of the cam shaft |5| so that when it stops the three grippers will all be imparting outward and downward tension to the upper. f

It may sometimes be desired to supplement the strain imparted to the upper by the power-operated gripper mechanism and for this purpose the illustrated machine is provided with a pair of hand levers |13, |15 (Fig. 4) which the operator may depress to move thegrippers farther down- Wardly. The hand lever |13 (Fig. 1l) extends laterally of the machine across the front of the operating slide and this lever is pivoted at |11 to a bracket |19 xed to the head 5. Be'- tween its ends the lever |13 has a block |8| pivoted on it which extends into a transverse slot l.

|83 formed in the operating slide 8| for the toe gripper |3. The left-hand end of the lever (Fig. 4) is formed as a handle |85 accessible to the operators left hand and, by depressing the han-l dle |85, the gripper-operating slide 8| may be forced farther downwardly to' increase the tension of the toe gripper.

The other lever |15 (Figs. 4 and 1l) passes transversely of` the machine, across the forward side of the operating rod |23 for the two side grippers I5. The left-hand end of this lever |15 is pivoted at |81 to an arm |89 extending toward the left from a'sleeve I9I (Fig. 5) which surrounds a portion of the side gripper operating rod` |23 *and is held against axial movement by abutting at its opposite ends against lugs |93 formed on the machine frame. About midway of its length (Fig. 4) the hand lever |15 has the upper end of a depending link |95 pivoted to it, the lower end of which is pivoted on a pin |91 extending, forwardly and rearwardly of the machine (Fig. 5), through a bore in the enlarged( portion |25 of the gripper-operating slide |23. The right-hand end of the said hand lever |15 is formed as a handle |99 (Fig. 4) convenient to the operators right hand and, by depressing this handle, the rod |23 may be urged farther downwardly, thus, through the tension-distributing lever ||5 to which the operating sli-des 3 for the two side grippers |5 are secured, drawing the two side grippers I5 farther outwardly and downwardly. Y

The operator may also desire to increase the tension applied to one side of the upper by one of the side grippers and simultaneously to decrease the tension applied to the opposite side of theupper by the other side` gripper if he observes that, when the grippers have concluded their power-operated upper-tensioning movements, the toe portion of the upper needs to be is extended rearwardly from the rod |23 and its rear end is formed as a ba1l20l` which lies within anrupwardly directed slot v203 :formed in the tension-distributing lever |I5 directly over its pivot IIE. The sleeve |9I may be rotated about its axis by forward and rearward movement of the handle |99 andthe sleeve: |9|\is.splined ,by a keyj201 to the rod |23. If, therefore, the operm Vator pulls the handle |99 of the hand lever |15 forwardly or pushes it rearwardly, the rear yend of theball-ended pin-|91 engaging in the slot 203 inthe tension-distributing lever I I5 will move toward the right orleft of the machine and will therefore rock` the tension-distributing lever I|5 fin one direction or the other about Yits pivot Thus one of the side grippers will be pulled farther downward landroutward while the other `side gripper willbe caused torise and to move inwardlyan equal distance.

`The hand lever |13 has `pivoted onit a pawl 209 (Fig. 9) and the hand lever |15 has pivoted -on it,rone above the other, a pair `of `pawls 2|I (Fig. v10) which are arranged; at a certainv time during the operation ofthe machinetoengage with-arcuate racks 2I3,-2I5 (Fig. 4). Thearcu- Vate rack 2|3 with which the pawl on the hand lever |13 associated with thetoe gripper cooperates is` fixed on the framefbut the rack 2|5 -with which the pawls onthe'hand leverV |15cooperate is fixed on the sleeve g|9| which is keyedto the operating rod |23 'for Nthe side .grippers so that the rackg2|5fwillretain its correct relation ;t0the Yhand lever |15 when swungforwardly or rearwardly for the purpose above indicated.

The pawl 209 onfgthe `hand lever |13 (Fig..9) extends downwardly fromits-pivot 2|9 and has The pawls;2|| (Fig. 10) on vthe hand lever |151extenid in oppo- `site directions from their pivots 2.23 and 225 so the tails |21 of the pawlsare between the pivots.

lSprings j229.;locate,d in recesses Yin reach hand lever tend to urge the pawls 2,09, 2| I, Y2| I into :engagement with theirracks 2I3,'2 I 5.

To insure that the pawls will be disengaged from -their Yrackswhen the cam-operated slide ||.I descends, .each of Vthe two hand levers is provided (Fig. 4)

with arpivoted ,arm one of which,123| (Fig. l9,), extends across the forward end of apawlreleasing plunger r233l mounted inthe Vhand lever |13 opposite the tail of the pawl 1209 andthe. other,

`232 (Fig. 10), across thehpawl-releasing plunger I,233 mounted in the hand lever |15 opposite the tailsv221 ofthe pawls 2| |,2| I.

-Thetwo arms 2-3I, 232,extend downwardlyside byside and lie behind asingle upstanding pawlyreleasing lever ,235 (Figsl and 5) which is vpivoted betweenits ends on a vfixed pivot-231. 'Below itspivot 231 the pawl-releasing lever 235 has a downwardly extendingarm at the lower end of which -is a roll `23.9 which is engaged by a vcam face240 on the forward end of a lever 24| pivoted at 243 on `the machine ,frame- 5. YDuring operaftion of the grippers the roll .239 is held forward by the cam face l240 which presses the upper portion of the pawl-releasing lever 235 rearwardly againstthe two arms 23|, 232 on the two hand levers |13,f|15 andcauses the pawl-releasing plungers 233 to hold the pawls,22|, 2| I, 2|| out of engagement ywith the racks 2I3, 2I5 so that the `grippers will be operated as described upon descent of the cam-operated slide I l I. Operation of the lever 124|jto release .the pawls atthe proper time willbe later explained.

Vmoved ,bodily widthw-iseacross-the.upper face Vof the last. For this purpose the pinf|91f(Fig.15)

V"The .mechanism by-"which a depression of the -trea-dle first causes operation of the gripper jawswill now be described. The treadle 00 (Fig. 2) is pivotedbetween its ends on a rod'241 and `its rear end has pivoted to it at 249 the lower end r,

`of the treadle V80 Vallows the upper gripper jaw( |9 ofthe toe gripper to descend upon the work `as described and throws in a clutch for rotating thecam shaft I5| of the machine through the ,following arrangement. To allow the upper gripper jaw, |9 to descend the arm 9| (Fig. 5) carryving the roll |00 which engages the cam surface 09 ,ong the downwardly extending arm'91 is turned in a clockwise direction by engagement of a roll 5255 on the upper end of the rod 253 (Fig. 2) with the forward end of anger259 extendingy fron/1ra sleeve 23| -which is freely mounted on a shaft 26,3 parallel `to the camshaft |.5|. The sleeve 25| has a lug 255 projecting rearwardly fromitto which is pivoted at 251' the upper end of Va curved link 259 the lowerend of which is pivoted at 21| to ar short arm 213 secured on the vshaftg93. vRising ofthe rod 253, therefore, will cause the sleeve 26| to turn in a clockwise direction as vseen in Fig. Zand, through the curved link 269, will cause the arm 9| (Fig. 5) to swing rearthereon (Fig. 2) which, as the rod is nearingthe upper limit of its movement, engages a pin 211 projectingtransversely from the lower end of a latching lever 219 and moves it forwardly. The upper end of the latching lever 219 is ,pivoted at28I to the rear end of a cam lever 285 which at its 4forward end is pivoted on a fixed shaft 281.

Near its lower end the latching lever 219 has a shoulder289 projecting rearwardly from it and, when the machine is at rest, a forked block 29| ron the forward end of a clutch-tripping lever 292 rests upon this shoulder 289 with the arms of the fork ern-bracing the lever 219. The clutch-trippinglever292is pivoted at its rear end on a shaft M2,93. Above the clutch-tripping lever 292 is a countershaft 295 which extends parallel to the a gear 298cm a main shaft 291 (Fig. l) the shaft 295 being driven at some 120 revolutions per minute. The countershaft 295 has a ratchet wheel `299 (Figs. A12 and 13) secured to it and has a sleeve member 30| freely rotatable thereon. The lsleeve member `30| carries, on a pivot 303 parallel to theshaft 295, a pawl 305which, when allowed to engage the ratchet wheel 299, causes the sleeve member 30| to rotate with the shaft.

`When the machine is at rest (Fig. 12) with the block 20| on the forward end of the clutch-trippinglever 28| resting on the shoulder 289 of the latching lever 219, a tail 301 on the pawl 305 is urged upward to hold the nose of the pawl 305 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 299 by a roll 309 on the clutch-tripping lever 292. When the rod 253 (Fig. 2) approaches the upper limit of its movement, the V-shaped block 215 engages the pin 211 in the lower end of the latchcamshaft |5I and has a gear 295 meshing with ing lever 219 and swings the latter far enough toward the front of the machine to remove its shoulder 289 from beneath the block 29| on the forward end of the clutch-tripping lever 292 and allows the lever to be pulled downwardly by a spring 3|| which is connected at its other end to the pin 211'and urges the latching lever rearwardly. As the lever 292 moves down, a spring 3|3 (Fig. 12) swings the pawl 305 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 299 and therefore couples the sleeve member 30| to the countershaft 235 for rotation therewith. The sleeve member 39| has a pinion 3|5 formed integrally with it which meshes with gear teeth 3|1 (Fig. 2) formed on the disk |49 xed on the cam shaft |5| which it rotates through a ve-to-one reduction.

The cam shaft 5| starts to rotate and the power-operated gripper mechanism begins to act approximately when the rod 253 reaches the upper limit of its movement. vThe rod 253 is held up with the V-shaped block 215 above the pin 211 by a depending latch 3|9 (Fig. 2) pivoted on a transverse rod 32| above the treadle and urged forwardly by a tension spring 323 so that a shoulder 325 on it rides over a -face 321 on the forward arm of the treadle 80 when it is fully depressed A latoh-releasing pedal 329 is xed on the rod 32|, and to a rearwardly extending arm of the pedal 329 is secured the upper end of the spring 323. By depressing the pedal 329 when it is desired to cause the rod 253 to fall, the rod 32| is rocked to move the shoulder 325 on the depending latch 3|9 rearwardly from the face 321 on the treadle 80 and the treadle is raised by a spring 342 the upper end of which is secured to a xed arm 344.

The lever 285 (Fig. 2), which supports the o latching lever 219, has a cam roll mounted on its inner face on a pin 33| about midway of its length, which roll enters a track 333 formed in a cam 335 on the cam shaft |5I. When the cam shaft |5| starts to rotate, the cam lever 285 is first lowered about its pivot 281 to cause the shoulder 299 on the latching lever 219 to descend below the block 29| on the lowered clutch-tripping lever 292 and when the cam shaft |5| has turned through about '10 is lifted to cause the shoulder 289 to engage the block 29| on the clutch-tripping lever 292 and raise the lever (Fig. 12) so that the roll 399 thereon will engage the tail 391 and disengage the pawl 395 from the ratchet wheel 299. The machine then cornes to rest while the grippers are holding the upper under tension.

The illustrated machine is provided (Fig. 3) with a pair of wipers which are arranged, while the three grippers are holding the upper in a tensioned and outspread condition, to move forwardly over and then downwardly around the toe portion of the last to shape the upper thereto` and, having descended to a position in which their under faces lie at least in the same plane as the last bottom, to advance and close somewhat to force the upper well into the angle between the side of the last and the outwardly projecting margin of the sole to form a well denned crease therein.

To facilitate positioning of the margin of the shoe upper between the jaws of the grippers and tractedpositions away from the toe of the shoe until such time as the operator wishes to bring them forward over the shoe and cause them to operate.

The frame 5 (Fig. 2) has an upwardly extending guideway 339 formed in it rearward of the shoe-supporting device I2 and on the extended center line of the latter. This guideway is perpendicular to the sole-supporting face |I. A rising and falling wiper-carrying head 34| has a depending slide 342 mounted in the guideway 339 and a link 343 is connected at 344 to a member 346 which is pivoted at 345 to the head 34|. The member 345 is held in adjusted position b-y a screw 338 which engages an arcuate slot in a xed member 359. The lower end of the link 343 is pivoted to the forward end of a cam-operated lever 341 which is pivotally mounted at its rear end on a xed shaft 349 and carries a cam roll 35| at its front end which enters into a cam groove 352 (Fig. 15) in a disk on the cam shaft |5|.

The wiper-carrying head 34| is located when the machine is at rest in a position considerably higher than the sole-supporting face and has formed along its upper portion a guideway 353 (Fig. 3) in which a wiper-carrying slide 351 is mounted for movement in a forward and rearward direction perpendicular to the slide 342. The wiper-carrying slide has a rear portion formed as a rectangular bar 355 and the forward portion 351 constitutes a wiper-enclosing box. The box 351 moves along the guideways 353 which both support it against yielding upwardly during the action oi the wipers on the shoe and support it against tipping about an axis extending lengthwise of the shoe. The upper and lower sides of the box 351 bear against the upper and lower faces of a pair of supporting plates 359 for a pair of toe wipers 36|, the wipers being secured to their supporting plates 359 in a readily detachable manner. The wiper-supporting plates 359, as shown in Fig. 1, may have cylindrical lugs 363 thereon (Fig. 1) with house electric heating cartridges for heating the wipers.

f' The lugs are, omitted in Fig. 3 and may be provided or not as desired.

Each ci the two wipers 35| (Fig. 3) is appropriately shaped and of proper length to act on a shoe from a point near the center of the toe end to a point about one inch heelward of the tip line, and between the two wipers 33| opposite the center of the toe is an auxiliary wiping member 365 comprising a narrow nger which .lies between the toe ends of the two wipers, the

wipers engaging at their toe ends the opposite sides of the auxiliary wiping member 365.

The outer edge of each of the wiper-supporting plates 359 is formed concentrically about the point of Contact 351 between its wiper and the adjacent side of the auxiliary wiping member 335, and the wiper-enclosing box 351 is provided with correspondingly curved grooves 399 along which the outer edges of the wiper-supporting plates 359 move as the wipers are closed. For thus moving the plates 359 and causing the wipers to open .and close about the points 351, the wiper-carrying slide 355 has a guideway 31| (Fig. '1) extending along its length in which are housed a pair of wiper-operating slides 313, one associated with each wiper. Each wiper-supporting plate 359 (Fig. 3) has a roll 315 projecting downwardly through an open portion of the bottom of the wiper box 351 and each roll 315 enters into a straight slot 319 formed in a head 38| provided on the forward end of each of the Vwiper-,operating slides 313. The slots 319 in the heads `of the wiper-operating slides 313 extend rearwardly of the machine toward their outer ends vat an angle of about 25 to a line extending widthwise of the machine so that, when the wipers are closely approaching their most advanced and closed positions and are acting to form the crease on the upper, the slots extend vsubstantially radially of the points 391 about which the wipers pivot, and the rolls 315 lie in `the outer portions of the slots 319 so that the wiper-operating slides 313 then act to force the wipers hard against the upper through a very favorable leverage.

When the machine is at rest and until the grippers have operated, the wiper-carrying head V39| (Fig. 2) occupies its raised position and the Wiper-carrying slide is fully retracted, the wipers being closed and withdrawn lengthwise of the shoe away from over its toe. When the grippers have concluded their upper-tensioning .action and the operator is satisfied that conditions are right for the commencement of the wiping operation, the wiper-carrying slide 355 is moved forward to operative position by the operation of a treadle 381 (Fig. 1), the wipers 39| are caused automatically to open to such an extent as to provide between them a space corresponding in shape to that of the toe portion of the particular shoe to be operated on, the wipercarrying head 34| is then caused to descend by power-operated mechanism to cause the wipers to wipe downwardly around the toe portion of the last and to urge the upper, held tensioned and outspread by the grippers, against the side face of the last, and, when the under faces of the wipers have reached at least the level of the last bottom, the wipers are caused, also by poweroperated mechanism, to advance and to close so that their inner edges will tuck the upper into the angle formed between the side face of the last and the sole margin and form a well defined crease on the upper.

The slide 355 has a groove 389 (Fig. 22) formed in its rear portion which is perpendicular to the guideway 31| in which the slide moves. Into the groove 389 projects a roll 39| supported on the upper end of an arm 393 which is pivoted on a horizontal rod 395. An arm 399 of a lever pivoted on the rod 395 engages the arm 393 at 499, the arms 393, 399 being held in contact by a spring 391 connected between them. A rear arm 492 of the lever pivoted at 395 is connected by a long tension spring 494 to a pin 496 on the frame. The arm 399 is connected by a link 49B to the front arm 4| 9 of a lever pivoted at 93 and having a rear arm H2 connected by a link 4M to the rear arm H9 of the treadle lever 381. Depression of the treadle 381 therefore acts to advance the wiper-carrying slide 355, the spring 391 permitting further depression of the treadle to trip the clutch after the slide 355 has Abeen fully advanced. The forward mo-vement of the slide 355 is limited by contact between a depending lug 49| (Fig. 3) on the rear end of the slide 355 with a roll 493 (hereinafter referred to) which, during the treadle-operated advance of the slide 355, occupies a position in front of the lug 49|. When the forward movement of the slide 355 is thus arrested, the toe ends of the wipers 36| will lie substantially directly over the toe end of the last in the shoe upper, the shoe having previously been positioned lengthwise on the shoe-supporting face by coop- `erating toe and heel and gaging devices to be described. For causing the wipers 33 to occupy a closed-together relation when their carrying slide 355 is in its rearward position, the wipersupporting plates 359 have springs 595 (Fig. 3) connected to them which act to urge the plates forwardly around the arcuate grooves 399 in the wiper-enclosing box 351.

The treadle-operated advance of the wiper-carrying slide 355 is made use of to position the wipers correctly lengthwise of the shoe for operation thereon and to cause them to move apart no thattheir edges will be positioned for wiping the upper against the side of the last when they descend. For this purpose the two wiper-operating slides 313 (Figs. 2 and '1) have lugs 991, 991 on their rear ends which extend downwardly through slots formed in a cover member 999 secured to the under side of the wiper-carrying slide and the two lugs lie close together widthwise of the machine.

Before the wiper-carrying slide 355 is moved forward by its treadle 391, a wiper-opening and closing roll il (Fig. 2) which is at rest during advance of the slide lies at the forward side of the lugs 491 at a distance therefrom which is somewhat less than that through which the slide is advanced by the treadle so that, just before the wiper-carrying slide 355 reaches its limit of movement, the depending lugs 991 on the wiperoperating slides 313 will be stopped by the roll 4| l. The wiper-enclosing box 251, however, will continue to advance with the wiper-carrying slide 355 and the consequent forward movement of the arcuate grooves 399 around the outer edges of f the Wiper-supporting plates 359 causes the wipers to open about their points 391 of Contact with the auxiliary wiper 395.

Since the toe portions of shoes differ in width, provision is made for adjusting the extent to which the wipers are opened through the means just described so that the separation of the wipers will correspond to the width ofthe toe being treated. For this purpose the wiper opening and closing roll 4|| is mounted on a short upwardly extending arm H5 (Fig. 5) of a bell-crank lever pivoted at M9 on a slide member 5.2i which is adjustable forwardly and rearwardly along the member 9. The slide member 42| has a groove formed obliquely across its under face, and a pin 923 extending from a threaded sleeve 921 enters this groove. The said sleeve is threaded on a stem 929 extending widthwise of the machine and carrying a hand wheel 93| (Fig. 2) at its righthand end. By rotating the hand wheel lili! the threaded sleeve 921 is moved widthwise of the machine and the pin 423 in the oblique groove moves the slide member 92| and hence the roll 4|| forward and rearwardly of the machine. After the wipers 39| have been thus opened a suitable amount to embrace the toe of the shoe they are drawn down by the link 393, and the roll 993 and the wiper opening and closing roll 4| are both swung forwardly to cause the wipers to advance and to close to perform their creasel forming action.

In order that the forward movement of the roll 493 may impart the necessary further advancing movement to the wiper-carrying slide 355 (Fig. 3), the slide has on its rear portion a relatively short downwardly extending face 33 the lower end 939 of which (Fig. 2) passes over the top of the roll 493 as the slide advances, this face being spaced from the lug 99| a distance equal to the diameter of the roll 993. When,

CII

therefore, engagement between the roll 403 and the forward face of the lug 49| has arrested the advance of the wiper-carrying slide 355 and, when the wiper-carrying head has thereafter descended, the forward face of the roll 483 lies against the face 433 on the slide 355 so that forward movement of the roll will so move the wiper-carrying slide 355.

In order that the forward movement of the wiper opening and closing roll 4|| (Fig. 5) may impart the desired further closing movement to the wipers 35| as they are advanced by the forward movement of the roll 483, each wiper-operating slide 313 has a relatively short downwardly extending lug 435 (Fig. 2) formed on it forwardly of the lugs 491. The lower ends of the lugs 435 are so short that, as the wiper-operating slides 313 advance, they pass over the roll 4H. The lugs 435 are spaced forwardly from the lugs 401 a distance greater than the diameter of the roll 4H so that if the roll 4H has been so adjusted that the edges of the wipers as they descend force the upper too hard against the last the wiperoperating slides 313 can move rearwardly a little in the wiper-carrying slide 355.

The roll 453 (Figs. 2 and 5) is mounted on an upwardly extending arm 431 of a bell crank lever pivoted on a rod 44| fixed on the frame, and the arm 431 is swung rearwardly by a spring 43S connected between it and a bracket 445'on the frame 9. For causing'these two rolls 483, 4|! to move forward after the wipers have descended, the bell crank carrying the roll 4H (Fig. 5) has an arm 445 to which is pivoted a link 441, and the bell crank lever carrying the roll 433 has an arm 449 to which is pivoted a link 45|. The

`lower end of the link 441 is pivoted to the forward end of a lever 453 and the lower end of the link 45| is pivoted to the forward end of a lever 455, both levers being freely pivoted at their rear ends on the rod 349. The lengths of the arms 445, 449 of the bell crank levers and the lengths of the levers 453, 455 to which they are connected are so chosen that when the levers are operated by mechanism to be described the wiper opening and closing roll 4H advances faster than the roll 483 so that the wiper-supporting plates 358 (Fig. 3) are moved along the wiper-enclosing box during the advance of the latter and the wipers are therefore closed the desired amount. The forward ends of the levers 453, 455 (Fig. rest on the upper edge of a plate 451 pivoted at 458 to the forward end of a lever 45| fulcrumed on the rod 349. On the rod 349 is also fulcrumed a earn-operated lever 433 carrying a roll 455 at its forward end which engages in a cam track 435 (Fig. 15) ina disk on the cam shaft |5| of the machine. The cam lever 463 has an arm 454 extending upwardly from its rear end, and a rotatable sleeve 451'passing forwardly through the arm has a stern 439 threaded in it which is pivoted to an ear 41| extending upwardly from the lever 46|.

Thecam lever 453 also has threaded through its upwardly extending arm 454 a pair of screws 413, 415 the ends of which are arranged to contact with faces 411, 419 cn the two levers 455, 453 respectively and serve to maintain their forward ends in engagement with the upper edge of the plate 451. Since the plate 451 is virtually carried by the cam-operated lever 463 and since the screws 413, 415 which maintain the levers ment of the forward end of the lever 463 will, through the screws 413, 415, cause both the roll 483 and the roll 4| to move forwardly and thus to advance and close the wipers, and that upward movement of the forward end of the lever 453 will, through the plate 451, cause the rolls 403, 4| I to move rearwardly.

By rotating the sleeve 461 the heightwise position of the plate 451 can be varied and by correspondingly rotating the screws 413, 415 the forward ends of the levers may be caused to rest on the plate whatever be its position of adjustment. 1This arrangement may be used to determine the initial positions forwardly and rearwardly in the machine of both the rolls 403, 4|| and, by the adjustment of the roll 4| to insure that the slide 355, when advanced by the treadle 381, will be arrested when the wipers occupy precisely the relation desired to the toe end of the shoe. In

order to prevent angular movement of the plateered by rocking movement of its supporting lever 46|, the upper edge of the plate remains always parallel to its initial position, thus preventing relative movement between the links 441, 45| as they move downwardly.

In the normal operation of the machine, the operator will depress the wiper-controlling treadle 381 only after the toe portion of the upper has been tensioned by the grippers and while the gripper-controlling. treadle 80 is latched in its depressed position, the cam shaft |5| having come to rest automatically as described. The treadle 381 controlling the wipers has lpivoted to it an upwardly extending link 483 (Fig. 1) which is pivoted at its upper end to a rod 485 which lies by the side of the rod 253 of the grippencontrolling treadle 80 and, like the rod 253,-has a V-shaped block 481 on its upper portion arranged, during the final portion of the depression of the wiper-controlling treadle 381, to strike the pin 211 (Fig. 2) on the lower end of the latching lever 219 and to trip the clutch again for the machine to go through the second part of its cycle in which the cam shaft |5| rotates about 140 to draw the wipers downwardly by power and later to advance and close them. The wiper-controlling treadle 381 (Fig. 1)` has a latching device comprising a latch 489 which is freely pivoted on the rod 32|, is of the same type as the latch 3|9 of the gripper-controlling treadle 88, and holds the treadle 381 in its fully depressed position. The latch 489 is arranged to be swung rearwardly to allow the treadle to rise `by means of a pin 322 (Figs. 1 and 2) secured in the latch 3|9, which pin extends in front of the latch489. Therefore, whenever the pedal 329 is depressed, both treadles, if both are in depressed position, are unlatched and allowed to rise.

It is desirable that the wiper-controlling treadle 381 shall be prevented from being depressedfar enough to cause engagement of the clutch until after the gripper-controlling treadle has been `fully depressed and latched. To this end there are fixed on a shaft 324 (Figs. l and 2) two arms 32B, 328. A curved forward face on the arm 325 is held against a pin 339 on the gripper-controlling treadle by a spring 332. The arm 328 is shorter than the arm 32B and has a fiat upper end, and a pin 336 on the wiper-controlling treadle 381 lies` directly above it. The arrangealso the arm 328 rearwardly so that when the treadle 80 is fully depressed the arm 328 will have vmoved rearwardly from under the pin 335 and the wiper treadle 30T may be depressed to its full extent. Otherwise the attened end of the arm 328 contacts with the pin 335 and limits the downward movement of the treadle 381, which movement, however, is suflicient to allow the wipers to be brought fully forward to enable an operator to adjust them correctly over a shoe on the shoe-supporting device but is insufficient to trip the clutch.

Since the wiper-carrying slide advances a predetermined distance until arrested by the roll 403, it is important, since the wipers move downward to perform a heightwise wiping action on the upper, that the toe end of the last should lie directly beneath the toe end of the wipers so that the inner edges of the wipers will bear with the same pressure against the upper across the toe end and along the sides of the toe portion as they descend.

To locate the shoe lengthwise and widthwise in proper relation to the wipers, the illustrated machine is provided with a toe gage comprising a V-shaped device consisting of a pair of outwardly and forwardly extending ears 49| (Figs. 3 and 5) which, when in operating position, lie parallel to the plane of the sole-supporting face and are secured by screws 492 passing through slots in the ears 39| into the opposite sides of an arm 493 so as to be independently adjustable lengthwise of the shoe. The arm |93 of the gage is bent and in its inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 5, is beyond the toe end of and below the shoe-supporting face At its front end the arm is forked and each fork is pivoted at 595 on the member 9. When the gage is in use it is swung upwardly and forwardly over the toe gripper and then occupies such a relation to the wipers at the beginning ofv their downward movement that the opposite sides and toe end of a shoe thrust into the V-space provided between the ears 09| will lie substantially directly beneath the opposite sides and toe end of the edges of the wipers.

To facilitate the insertion of the margin of the upper between the jaws of the various grippers, the toe gage is initially in its inoperative position, is brought into position for use before the grippers commence to tension the upper, and is moved out of the way of the wipers before they act on the upper. To move the toe gage into and out of its operative position at the desired times, a downwardly extending rod |91 (Fig. 5) is pivoted at 599 to the gage-carrying arm 593 rearward of the pivots 095 of the arm, and a tension spring 50| is coupled to the lower end of this rod and tends normally to swing the arm to the position shown in Fig. 5. To swing the gage into operative position at the desired time,'a slide 503 is mounted in the frame rearwardly of the pivots |395 of the arm 093 and the slide carries a roll 505 (Fig. 15) at its upper end against which the arm 593 is urged by the spring 50|. Upward movement of this slide causes the arm to swing upwardly and forwardly until the gage overlies the sole-supporting face in such a position that the toe portion of a shoe when thrust into the V-gap of the gage will occupy the desired position relatively to the wipers.

The toe gage is moved into its operative. position over the shoe-supporting device substantially at the same time that the upper jaw of the toe gripper is allowed to descend toward the lower jaw. For this purpose the arm 9| (Fig. 5) has pivotally connected to its upper end the lower end of a short toggle link 501 the upper end of which is pivotally connected to the lower end of a toggle link 509. The upper end of the toggle link 509 (Fig. 14) is pivotally connected to an ear 5H extending from a sleeve 5|3 which is freely mounted on the shaft 263. Upward movement of the treadle rod 253 causes, through the roll 255 (Fig. 2) and nger 259, the desired rearward movement of the arm 9| (Figs. 5 and 14) which imparts a clockwise rocking movement, as seen from the right, to the sleeve 5|3 to which the toggle link509 is connected, the two toggle links being at that time in a straightened condition. The sleeve 5|3 has a forwardly projecting arm 5|5 the free end of which is pivoted to the lower end of a link 5|1 which at its upper end is pivoted at 5|8 to the slide 503. Movement of the toe gage into its operative position will therefore occur substantially at the same time as the descent of the operating slide 8| which allows the toe gripper to close.

The sleeve 25| has a finger 5|9 (Fig. 2) similar to the linger 259 projecting from it at such a position that, when the sleeve 25| has been rotated by the rising of the rod 253 through depression of the gripper-controlling treadle 80, the nger 519 will have moved forwardly to a position similar to that previously occupied by the finger 259 and will then lie directly over the upper end of the rod 085 of the wiper-controlling treadle 38|. Also, when the sleeve 26| has been rotated by the rising of the rod 253 and has therefore both caused the toe gripper jaws to close and the toe gage to assume its operative position, the two toggle links 501, 509 (Fig. 14) and the arm 9| to which the forward end of the link 501 is connected will lie in alinement with each other, the toggle links 501, 509 being normally held in straightened condition by a spring 52| and abutting faces on the links until they are broken.

During the initial portion of the depression of the wiper-controlling treadle 381 to bring the wiper-carrying slide 355 forwardly, the rod 485 rises and lifts the finger 5|9 on the sleeve 25|, which as before described has been previously partially rotated by the depression of the grippercontrolling treadle 00, and causes the sleeve 26| to rotate farther in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2. This further rotation of the sleeve causes the arm 9| to move rearwardly out of alinement with the toggle links 507, 509 (Figli) and thus imparts a movement in a counterclockwise direction to the sleeve 5|3 to which the toggle link 509 is connected. This causes a downward movement of the arm 5|5 to which the link 5H is connected and allows the spring 50| to pull the toe gage into its inoperative position before the depression of the wiper treadle is suicient to cause the wipers to obstruct the retiring movement of the toe gage. As the arm 9| to which the toggle link 501 is connected approaches the limit of its rearward movement, a pin 523 carried on it strikes against a face 524 on a tail 525 of the toggle link 501 and thus breaks the toggle rearwardly as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 14. This insures that when the arm 9| eventually swings forwardly again on the falling of the rods 253, 085 it will not cause the toe gage to rise from its inoperativev position and strike against the under faces of the wipers36l. Continued depression of the treadle 387 after the retirement of the gage will cause the latching le- `ver 279 (Fig. 2) to release the clutch-tripping Vby friction from movement out of its correct psition when the toe gage is later moved away. In order, however, to'support the shoe against rearward movement under the heelward thrust of the wipers which takes place during their crease-forming action, the machine is provided with a heel end abutment (Fig. 2) which is caused automatically to engage the heel end of the shoe after its toe has been positioned by the toe gage and before operation of the wipers. The forwardly and downwardly sloping arm 7 has a guideway 529 (Fig. formed in it, in which guideway a bar 53| is slidingly mounted. This guideway extends lengthwise of a shoe on the supporting face and is inclined at about 20 to the horizontal. The sliding bar has secured on its forward end a bracket 533 (Figs. 1 and 2) which has in it a pivot pin 535 extending lengthwise of the bar 55| on which is freely mounted a short sleeve 537 having ears through which extends above the pin 535 a pivot pin 54| lying widthwise of the machine. An upright 543 lying substantially perpendicular to the sliding bar 53| is pivoted at its lower end on the pivot pin 54| and is urged forwardly about the pin 54| by a spring-pressed plunger 555 located in a rearwardly extending lug 547 on the upright and bearing against the upper face of the bracket 533. The bracket 533 has an upward extension 549 toward the rear face of which the upright 543 is urged by the spring-pressed plunger 545 and the extension has a slot formed in it which is concentric with the pivot 535 in the bracket 533 and which houses a correspondingly curved rack 55|.

The upright 553 has a tooth 553 which engages the rack 55| and supports the upright in any position to which it may. have been swung toward the left or right of the machine. The heel end abutment comprises a V-shaped fork 555 pivotally secured at 556 on a stud 557 passing through a slot 559 extending lengthwise of the upright 543. A handle 55| is threaded on the stud 557 by loosening which the fork 555 may be adjusted heightwise on the upright 553. The locking handle 55| may be used to swing the upright 543 rearwardly to remove the tooth 553 from the rack 55| and to swing the slideway toward the leftor right. Secured to the under side of the fork 555 is an arm 552 on which the rear end of the shoe rests. The forkcan be raised or lowered to cause it to occupy the best position for engagement with the opposite sides of the heel end of a shoe which is to carry a heel of any height and can also be tipped on its supporting stud 557 to aline its opposite sides with the opposite side faces of the heel end of the shoe.

For convenience the fork 555 is arranged to occupy, when the machine is at rest, a forward position and is moved rearwardly to engage the shoe before the grippers are power actuated to assist the toe gage in holding the shoe substantially positively against displacement under the pull which the grippers exert on the upper. After the fork 555- has engaged the shoe, it is automatically locked against heelward movement and remains in its operative position, after the toe gage has been withdrawn, to support the shoe against rearward movement until the end of the operation of the machine.

The sliding bar 53| carrying the fork 555 has connected to it a chain 583 which extends rearwardly of the machine and passes over a pulley 565. A weight 559 secured to the end of the chain 583 tends to draw the fork 555 rearwardly toward the heel end of the shoe. When, however, the machine is at rest ready for the presentation of a shoe to it, the heel fork 555 will have been drawn forwardly by the operator and will be prevented from moving rearwardly by a doubleended pawl 57| (Fig. 5) which is mounted on a pin 573 secured in a depending arm 575 pivoted at 575 on the member 9. The forward end of the pawl, as shown, engages rack teeth 575 on the under face of the sliding bar 55|. The pawl 57|, however, has a pin 577 extending laterally from it near its forward end which engages a notch formed in the upper end of a depending link 58| the lower end of which is pivoted to a forwardly extending arm 583 of a bell crank lever which is rotatable on the fixed shaft 253.

The bell crank lever has a downwardly extending arm 587 in which is formed a curved cam groove588. Forwardly of this arm there is secured on the shaft 83 an arm 58| having a roll 593 on it which, when the machine is at rest, lies within the upper portion of the cam groove 589 in the arm 587. The cam groove 588 is so shaped that during the early portion of the rocking `movement of the shaft 83 when the upper jaw of the toe gripper is allowed to descend and the toe gage rises to its operative position the roll 593 tracks along a concentric portion of the cam groove without imparting any movement to the arm 587 of the bell crank lever. When, however, the rocking movement of the shaft 93 is continued by further depression of the grippercontrolling treadle 8l), the roll 583 passes along a sharply curved portion of the cam groove 589 and thus imparts to the forward' end of the pawl 57| a downward movement to withdraw it from engagement with the teeth 575 on the sliding bar 53|A carrying the fork 555. When this occurs the fork is moved rearwardly under the action of its weight 559 to engage the heel end of a shoe on the shoe-supporting face The movement of the bell crank lever 585, 587 imparted to it by the cam roll is suiiicient to swing the pawl by its pin-and-slot connection at 577 from a position in which a spring plunger 587 in the arm 575 acts on an inclined face of the pawl to hold its front end in engagement with the teeth 575 to a position in which the plunger 597 engages another inclined face on the pawl and holds its rear end 572 in engagement with the teeth 575. When the rearward end of the pawl has engaged the rack teeth it will prevent forward movement of the heel fork 555 but will allow rearward movement of the fork to continue under the action of the weight 559 until the shoe arrests its movement. The arm 574 (Fig. 5) has pivoted on its lower end a roll 589 which, as the wipers descend, is engaged by a cam face 58| (Fig. 2) onshall tuck the upper well beneathztheY last at the toe and sides so that the upper of the linished shoe may, around that region, present a sharply re-entrant angle between its outwardly extending ange and the portion of the upper on the side face of the last so that stitchdown shoes operated upon by the illustrated machine will be as shapely as shoes of more expensive types. If, however, the outwardly extending margin of the sole were supported unyieldingly with its upper face level with the last bottom, the wipers could only descend until their under faces were on a level higher than that of the last bottom byan amount substantially equal tothe thickness of the outturned upper materials. Thus, the wipers could not tuck the upper far enough beneath the overhanging parts or" the last to form as well defined a crease on the upper as is desired. To allow the wipers to descend below the position just indicated and to advance an ample distance beneath the overhanging parts of the last to form a well dei-ined crease on the upper, the illustrated machine is provided with a peripheral sole support i2 which initially allows the outwardly extending marginal portion of the sole to be displaced downwardly as the wipers descend and which is later raised to press the margin of the sole and the outturned ilange of the upper upwardly against the under faces of the wipers.

To this end, the shoe-supporting device (Figs. 5 and 6) comprises, beside the .central stationary portion il which underlies theV central portion only of the sole of a shoe, a surrounding or peripheral portion i 2 which underlies the outer portion of the sole over a width extending inwardly from the edge of the sole for a distance, say haii an inch, beyond the edge of the last bottom and which is movable heightwise of the shoe so as at one time to relieve upward pressure on the peripheralV portion of the sole for the crease-forming action of the wipers and at another time to press the outwardly extending portion of the sole and the overlying flange of the upper upwardly against the wipers.

The central portion Il of the shoe-supporting device comprises a plate which is secured to lugs Gill projecting upwardly from the frame 9. The surrounding portion l2 of the shoe-supporting device is somewhat larger in outline than the largest sole to be operated on and is of similar shape. rThe portion I2 has a central recess: 609 (Fig. 6) similar in shape to but somewhat larger and deeper than the portion I I which is received within this recess. The surrounding portion has holes through which the lugs Zil'l pass and is located initially with the bottom of the recess about a quarter of an inch below the lower face of the central portion Il. The heel end of the portion i2 has a rounded'under face which rests upon ledges SH3 formed on one of the lugs till'. The surrounding portion I2 lhas midway of its width and on its under side a rounded recess EIS (Fig. 5) into which theupper end of a sliding rod Ell fits and supports the toe end of the portion i2. Upward movement of the sliding rod Eil will rst cause the toe end of the surrounding portion i2 to rise relatively to the stationary central portion il about its line of contact' with the ledges Slt and, when the toe end has pressed the toe end of the sole and upper up against the unoler faces of the wipers, will cause the heel end of the portion i2 to rise until it p-resses the margins oi the sole and upper against the wipers throughout their. length. Initially kthe sliding rod Sil occupies a lowered position, as shown, and

the surrounding portion I2 is allowed to remain in its lower position throughout the operation of the grippers on the upper and until the wipers have descended and have then advanced and closed. The unsupported margin of the sole can be bent downwardly by the pressure exerted on it by the wipers and, since the portion I2 then offers no obstruction to descent of the wipers below the level of the last bottom by an amount equal to the thickness of the upper materials, the wipers are able after such movement to enter the angle between the side face of the last and the adjacent marginal portion of the sole and to force the upper beneath the last to form a relatively deep and sharply defined crease on the upper.

While the wipers remain in their crease-forming position, the surrounding portion I2 of the shoe-supporting device is raised to clamp the margin of the sole, together with the overlying upper flange, hard against the under faces of the wipers and thus not only to force the margins of the upper and sole together so firmly as to impart a semi-permanent set to them while the wipers are exerting their maximum crease forming action on the upper but also, if adhesive has previously been applied between the margins of' the sole and upper, to cause these margins to become rmly secured together under relatively heavy pressure. Moreover, while the surrounding portion i2 remains in its raised position it affords a supporting bed for the margins of the work and thus enables iastenings driven from above in the manner hereinafter described to become securely anchored in the sole to hold the flange of the upper iirmly in shaped condition to the sole.

For raising the surrounding portion I2, the sliding rod BI'l rests upon the upturned end of a lever GIS which is pivoted to the frame 'IV at 620 between its ends. A two-part link 62|, 623 is pivoted at one end to the forward armA of the lever SIS and at its other end to the forward arm of a cam lever 625 pivoted between its ends on the same pivot 52B as the lever 6I9 and carrying at its rear end a cam roll 621 which engages a cam path S28 (Fig. 15) formed on a disk on the cam shaft ISI. The parts 62|, 623` of the twopart link are urged together by a strong compression spring i529. rear end of the cam lever 625 will therefore iinpart a rm but yielding upward movement to the sliding rod 6H to operate the peripheral portion I2 of the shoe-supporting device in the manner above described and downward movement of the rear end of the lever will allow the rod SI1 and portion I2 to fall. The holes GII in the surrounding portion I2 through which the lugs Gill supporting the inner portion pass are larger than the lugs and therefore the surrounding portion Vof the shoe-supporting device is free to rock, within limits, in a substantially universal manner on the upper end of the sliding rod 6H so that it may accommodate itself to the heightwise dispositions of the margins ofV the sole at the opposite'sides of the forepart.

While the shoe is under pressure, it may be desired to secure the margins of the'upper and sole together by a few fastenings driven into the work around the toe portion alternatively tov or additionally to securing them together by adhesive. For this purpose each wiper has a notch 633 (Fig. l) formed in its inner edge into which the nozzle of a hand-operated fastening-inserting device (e. g., a stapling device) can bein- Upward movement of the r 

